Welcome to the Careers
by Emily Cha
Summary: It shocked everyone when he joined them. This is the story of how that small boy from District 3 managed to join the careers in the 74th annual Hunger Games. R & R please!


The leaves of the bushes brushed against my face. I kept as silent as possible, not daring to breathe. My eyes scanned the surrounding forest and landed on the large pile of supplies next to the lake. I had found the careers' camp, but the careers were no where to be seen. Now was my chance.

I broke out into a sprint, heading straight towards the mound of endless supplies. The careers had it so easy with their endless amount of food and weapons. The only food I have eaten for the past few days were the berries I had found deep in the forest.

I rummaged through the pile, grabbing a water bottle and a box of crackers. My eyes flitted over the weapon. It was clear from my four in my training session that I am no good with weapons. The only weapon I had was my mind, but in a Game like this the mind can only take you so far. I grabbed a sharp knife. It couldn't hurt to have some protection.

I made my way to the lake edge and started to fill my water bottle. The screams and shouts that arose from the woods turned my blood to ice. My head jerked to the right as a stampede of careers ran out of the woods. The girl from District 4 let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to the ground. Her body was oozing a green liquid and she was as puffy as a cloud. The others weren't spared. They were covered in bumps as well. Tracker jackers. A blonde boy turned and ran into the woods. He was soon followed by the giant from District 2. It seemed like I was un-noticed.

I knew it was time to go. I got up to run for the woods…

My head went fuzzy. I collapsed to the ground and grabbed my arm. As I rubbed it I found a bump the size of a golf-ball. A tracker jacker sting. We had learned about these in school. I ripped the stinger out of my arm and tried to drink some water. The world was spinning and the sky turned black. The blackness ran down into the lake. It started to come towards me. I ran faster and faster. Suddenly, I was in the air. Was I flying? What is going on? The rush cleared my mind a bit. The taste of dirt in my mouth made it clear. I was knocked down.

"And where do you think you're going?"

I rolled over to see the girl from District 2 standing above me, knife at hand, snarl displayed across her face. She had two bumps, one on her leg and one on her shoulder that matched the one on my arm. She kneeled on my chest, making it hard to breathe under the pressure.

"No answer?" she spat, raising her knife.

This is it. I'm going to die. I closed my eyes.

"Clove!"

The weight on my chest loosened a bit.

"I'm a bit busy, Cato," the girl, Clove growled.

"Loverboy's gone."

"Gone? You kill him?"

"I slashed him up, but I didn't kill him. Not yet at least. I want to use him as bait for his little girlfriend, who, by the way, he decided to save....what do you got here?"

I opened my eyes to see the monstourous boy towering above me.

"Caught him trying to raid our stuff," Clove said.

"Kill him," Cato replied.

Clove shrugged and raised her knife to my throat.

"Wait!" I yelled, then mentally slapped myself. The words just flowed out, "I can help you."

Cato let out a big guffaw. This was amusing to him.

"You…help us? And how do you expect to do that?" he laughed.

"You…you need to protect your supplies. I can help you do that."

"You are going to protect our supplies?" It was Clove's turn to laugh.

"Not me…the mines."

The mines? I had thought of it before, but never considered actually doing it. My plan was to unearth the mines next to our launch platforms, bring them to life, and use them for protection. It was tough, but I had an idea of how to do it. Besides, I had these two interested. It could be my last chance of survival. I continued, "The plan is to unearth the mines, I will turn them back on, then we plant them around your supplies. If we leave a path, we can get the supplies but others can't."

"And you think you can do that?" Clove said doubtfully.

"Back in District 3 we learn to do things like this all the time," I replied, keeping my voice as steady as possible.

"Interesting…" Cato whispered.

"Marvel, come here!" Clove signaled to their other companion.

The three of them huddled together, whispering. Clove turned, evil grin bearing into me.

"Welcome to the careers," she snarled.

Marvel got me a shovel.

"Now start digging."


End file.
